Assumption Hosts 40th Annual Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Breakfast
On Monday, Assumption University and Quinsigamond Community College (QCC) co-hosted Worcester County’s annual Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Breakfast in the Plourde Recreation Center. Organized by the Worcester Community Breakfast Committee, the breakfast – which celebrated its 40th anniversary this year – honors and celebrates the life and legacy of Dr. King through a program of inspirational musical selections, scholarship awards, and a keynote address.
This year’s keynote speaker was Dr. Kellie Carter Jackson, an associate professor and Chair of the Africana Studies department at Wellesley College. She is a history scholar whose research centers on the topics of African American studies and the Civil Rights Movement, with her work appearing in several national and international publications, podcasts, documentaries, and talk shows. She has also authored several books, including the award-winning We Refuse: A Forceful History of Black Resistance, from which she referenced stories throughout her keynote address.
“Resistance is how one responds to white supremacy, but refusal is why,” Dr. Jackson said in her keynote address. “Refusal abhors oppression and insists on defining how humanity should be understood and treated with dignity and respect and decency.”
“When we refuse it is in our power to determine how we can best preserve our lives and the lives of others,” she continued.
During the breakfast, $12,000 in total scholarships were awarded to students from Worcester and the surrounding communities who are pursuing post-secondary education. The Community Breakfast has distributed over $200,000 in total in scholarships since 1986, according to the Worcester Community Breakfast Committee.
In closing the celebration, singer Leslie T. Clark and the Mechanics Hall Youth Singers led the audience in the singing of “We Shall Overcome,” a folk song that became popular during the Civil Rights Movement as an anthem of hope for activists as they fought for equal rights for African Americans.
“This morning, we join in the company of friends, pursuing the truth of the dignity of every human person,” said President Greg Weiner in his introduction. “In the ongoing struggle this day represents, we join you.”
The celebration of Dr. King’s legacy will continue on Saturday, July 12th with the 25th annual MLK Golf Tournament, which helps fund the scholarships awarded at each year’s MLK breakfast.